Commentary, sarcasm and snide remarks from a Florida resident of over thirty years. Being a glutton for punishment is a requirement for residency here.
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Monday, October 16, 2006

The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are the University of Miami and Florida International University Football teams. They get the award for the fight that broke out at the game between thse two schools last Saturday night. 31 players were suspended for one game as a result of it, 13 from Miami and 18 from FIU.

Disgraceful is all I say. For disgracing the universities they are supposed to represent, the University of Miami and FIU football teams are today's Knuckleheads of the day.

(CBS4 News) CORAL GABLES The damage done by Saturday’s sidelines-clearing brawl between players for the University of Miami and FIU grew Sunday night, when the Atlantic Coast Conference ordered the conference suspension of 13 Miami players. 18 players have been suspended by FIU for their role in the brawl.

The suspensions come as a blow to UM, which had won its third straight game after a rocky start to the season which resulting them in falling out of the AP top 25. The team had already suspended 8 players Sunday after reviewing some video of the brawl.

For the growing FIU program, which had relished the national attention it might receive by playing UM, the loss of 18 players as a result of the foot-brawl at the Orange Bowl could cast a pall on an already winless season.

Each player suspended must sit out their team’s next game. This means the Hurricanes will be at least 13 players short for an important game against Duke October 21st, and FIU will be short-handed for an October 28th game against Alabama.

"These suspensions send a clear and definitive message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated," said Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford.

UM Athletic Director Paul Dee said Sunday that he had spoken with Swofford about steps which might be taken, and had met with Coach Larry Coker. He agreed with the steps Coker had taken to suspend Canes players.

“It’s a difficult situation,” Dee told reporters Sunday, “and it’s one we wish had not occurred, and having had it occur we will deal with it in the appropriate way.”

"I don't have many bad days," Miami coach Larry Coker said Sunday morning, long before the suspensions were announced shortly after 10 p.m. "This is a bad day. And last night was a bad night."

Coker had originally said he did not expect the brawl to be a bad thing for the University of Miami, but Sunday changed his view after having a chance to see the incident on video.

The ACC and Miami suspended Carlos Armour, Chris Barney, James Bryant, Tyrone Byrd, DajLeon Farr, Ryan Hill, Bruce Johnson, Charlie Jones, Brandon Meriweather, Brian Monroe, Derrick Morse, Randy Phillips and Anthony Reddick. Quarterback Kyle Wright was not suspended; he was seen on video watching glumly from the sidelines as his teammates mixed it up with the FIU players.

FIU, which is a member of the Sun Belt Conference, suspended even more players than the ACC and UM. Forced to sit out the next game are Michael Alls, Scott Bryant, Roland Clark, Michael Dominquez, John Ellis, Cory Fleming, Reginald Jones, Marshall McDuffie Jr., Robert Mitchell, Quintin Newman, Luis Pena, Jarvis Penerton, Julian Reams, Lionell Singleton, Chris Smith, Samuel Smith, Mannie Wellington and Chandler Williams.

"There is no place in higher education for the type of conduct exhibited," Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters said.

The two teams, in their first cross-town match-up, had felt tension before the game and during the first half, but it was a post-touchdown celebration on the part of UM which appeared to set off the brawl.

James Bryant pointed at the FIU bench and bowed to the crowd after catching a touchdown pass with 9 minutes left in the third quarter. Moments later, FIU's Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perrelli to the ground and punched him.

McDuffie kicked Perrelli in the helmet. Morse jumped onto the Smith-Perrelli pile, Singleton followed and tried to punch the Hurricanes' Calais Campbell, and benches began to empty.